What's the meaning of exorbitant gadget when you can't afford to decently fix your car? (Part 2)

This pandemic, as we realise, teaches us to be financially wise with our finances properly managed to either please our wants or needs.

Like I said in the first part of this article, buying an expensive gadget with only small changes in features isn’t a sensible thing to do when you, in the same time, keep being troubled by your indecently-fixed car that aches your head.

In economy, needs should be prioritised over wants, and that can only be done if we are certainly aware of how to rightly value a thing we spend our money for.

In this world that is full of delusions, deceptions and... corruptions, a want can be a need and a need can be a want when money isn’t a problem to you.

Unfortunately, we, including ruling politicians whose monthly emolument is unaffected by their inefficiency, irresponsibility and incapability, have a financial limitation that constrains our power of spending.

What I’m trying to say is that fulfilling our wants or needs will always be constrained by our financial ability, and spending for whatever we want or need is unwise when it is beyond our actual financial limitation — usable income.

If your monthly earning is below RM3,000 — let’s say RM2,999.90 — how could you boast about having a RM6,000 smartphone on Instagram when your close friends know that your salary is just about RM700 more than the country’s poverty line (even it’s counted based on household income).

If you just bought a smartphone with a monthly instalment scheme, you can’t, by right, arrogantly claim your phone as “my own phone” until your full settlement is done.

And buying a gadget or any other unimportant stuff with a monthly instalment does really say about your attitude in managing your finance.

It’s fine if your salary is adequate to fully pay a newly-launched smartphone that costs about four thousand ringgit, but what’s the point of that if the remaining figures in your bank account is lower than your body weight.

It’s, to me, inhumane and uncivilised to be stingy in spending for a decent meal that costs you around RM20 to RM25 a day when you can actually watch HD 4K Netflix movies from your new brand smartphone whose price is about equal to treating 100 orphans a western dinner.

Don’t we feel ashamed that we can’t afford a RM25 dinner every day but we are using a fancy gadget whose instalment pay is pricier than a used Myvi?

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Amerul Azry Abdul Aziz is an independent writer who now views politics as something that can be researched.